30th Anniversary of International I.D.E.A. - Part II

                    There isn't democracy without human rights and there isn't human rights without democracy. Democracy means respect for civil and political rights for all. And when any of those rights were violated for no reason, justice means reparations for the victims. Each time I was a candidate my amount of votes were very below the expectations, and another candidate broke the record of votes. It's historic fact that anybody can't disagree. I'd like to thank everybody that undestand the importance to defend human rights, democracy and justice. Because of you all the worldwide movement for justice, democracy and my political rights is becoming stronger than ever. For the last two decades my life has been a daily struggle for justice, democracy and human rights. I have a YouTube channel, here is the link. https://www.youtube.com/@lucianofietto4773/videos. Since the creation of this channel its visualization counter doesn't work, the same has been happening with the counter of this blog since its creation in 2010. This post is a summary of the speech by Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden Maria Malmer Stenergard at the celebration of International I.D.E.A.'s 30th anniversary on 12 June 2025, in Stockholm. https://www.government.se/speeches/2025/06/speech-by-minister-for-foreign-affairs-maria-malmer-stenergard-at-the-celebration-of-international-ideas-30th-anniversary/

                   Sweden has been a proud host country of International IDEA, and its largest donor of core support since IDEA's foundation. We are grateful for the partnership we have with the institute, and for the important work IDEA does for democracy around the world. In the mid-1990s, when IDEA was founded, there was a surge of new democracies around the globe. At the time, there was a widespread will and ambition to create a new, free and democratic world. Ever since, IDEA has played an important role to support and promote that ambition. In the past two decades, we have seen a global democratic decline and the rise of authoritarian leadership. According to the research institute Varieties of Democracy at Gothenburg University, more than 70% of the world's population now live in autocracies. But these numbers must not make us despair. Rather, they should be taken as a call for action, as we need to be more vigilant than ever in our cause to promote, protect and defend democracy. We must remember not to neglect our own democracies. In Sweden, we address democratic challenges daily and continuously review laws policies to strengthen our institutions, ensuring they are fit for the modern world. And beyond our borders our commiment to democracy remains firm. Support to democracy, human rights and the rule of law amounts to around 25% of all Swedish assistance. In light of recent developments in the world, we underline the importance for the E.U. to continue to defend and promote democracy. Democracy is not something that you have, it's something that you do, every day. Democracy is a summary of different verbs: vote, include, protect, respect, listen, engage, innovate. Let me list three ways how can further promote and defend our democracies. First, we need to demonstrate that democracy delivers for people. We know that democratic societies deliver better services and stronger economies than autocracies. It's also important to point out that democracy is not a western concept, and that democracy can take many different shapes and forms. In a world of information overload, we must be better at articulating and communicating the positive benefits of democray. International IDEA provides a platform for us to discuss how to do that more effectively. Second, the link between democracy and peace needs to be made clearer. Russia's full-scale aggression against Ukraine has again put the spotlight on the interconnectedness of security, democratic values and institutions. Ukraine's unwavering courage and resistance inspire us to stand up for our joint values and principles. Sweden will continue our support to Ukraine's fight for freedom, independence and democracy. Research show us that a more democratic world is a more peaceful world. Third, we need to provide democracy support where it's needed. In a time of budget cuts and rellocation of development aid, supporting actors and institutions that enable stronger democracies remain key. This includes supporting some of the fundamantal pillars of democracy, including free and fair elections. Independent electoral institutions such as the judicial system. A free and independent media climate. A vibrant and pluralistic civil society. Protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms. Recent developments have shown that we can't take our freedom and democracy for granted. The threat to democracy is present in all our countries. We need to fight for it every day, because freedom is not free. I hope that all of us, who share the common belief in the value of democracy for the world and its people, will do what it takes.

         

30th Anniversary of International I.D.E.A.

               A little more than four months ago, precisely on 28th February, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance ( International IDEA) completed 30 years. This organization works to improve democracy worldwide. We all have to fight for a better and more inclusive democracy, because our dignity, our human rights, our justice system depend on our freedom to choose and make our politicians accountable. For the last two decades my life has been a daily struggle for justice, democracy and human rights.   I have a YouTube channel, here is the link. https://www.youtube.com/@lucianofietto4773/videos. Since the creation of this channel its visualization counter doesn't work, the same has been happening with the counter of this blog since its creation in 2010. If you want to know more about this very important Institute you can access its webpage,      https://www.idea.int/     This post is a summary of three articles. The first was published at https://www.idea.int/30years-supporting-democracy. The second was published at https://www.idea.int/news/celebration-stockholm-marks-international-ideas-30th-anniversary. The third was published at https://www.idea.int/news/statement-occasion-30th-anniversary-international-idea

                For 30 years, International Idea has been a leader in providing comparative data and publications, developing capacity to enable democratic reforms, and convening with partners to champion democratic values across the globe. The pursuit of democracy requires unwavering dedication and the collective effort of individuals who believe in the power of their voices. Each initiative we advocate for is a step in our path towards contributing to better and stronger democracies. Together, we can build resilient democratic institutions, foster inclusive participation, and nurture the aspirations of communities everywhere. This anniversary is a testament to our ongoing commitment and a call to action for all who share our vision. "Supporting democratic development around the world is an urgent task. Therefore, I look forward to celebrating International Idea's 30 years of important work with a reception at the Parliament." Said Andreas Norlén, Speaker of the Swedish Parliament. Join us by engaging in our events, exploring our researches, and becoming part of the democratic dialogue. Together, we can continue to make a difference and ensure that the promise of democracy reaches every corner of the world.                                                                                                                                                                                                    On 9-12 June 2025, International Idea's 30th anniversary jubilee brought Member States of the Institute's Council, electoral agencies and partner organizations to celebrate three decades of democracy support and to chart a path forward. Senior officials and leading democracy voices from over 40 countries came together to mark the occasion, which coincided with the Stockholm Conference on Electoral Integrity, an initiative fostering global cooperation on electoral integrity and policy dialogue between electoral management bodies. The 30th anniversary celebration was a week of discussions, strengthened partnerships and commitments from a diverse set of partners to continued work to support, advance and protect democracy worldwide. International IDEA's Council of Member States, consisting of 35 Member States and 2 Observers, met for an extraordinary meeting in honour of the 30th anniversary. In 2025, Switzerland has been at the helm of the Institute's Council, highlighting the links between democracy, inclusion and prosperity as part of its presidency. The meeting concluded on a note with the Council releasing a 30th Anniversary Statement, calling for continued and elevated efforts to protect and strengthen democracy and reiterating its strong and steadfast support to International IDEA, its mandate and its principles expresed in its Statutes.                                                                                         At a time of rapid shifts, the International IDEA calls for continued efforts to protect and strengthen democracy and for coordinate action in support of democratic principles, institutions, values and resilience. Stronger democracies demonstrably lead to a safer and more prosperous world. Strengthening democratic institutions is conducive to promoting peaceful and inclusive societies, providing access to justice for all, and building effective and accountable institutions. IDEA reaffirms its belief in democracy as essential to realize the aspirations for freedom, equality, dignity, development, justice, peace and security enshrined in the U.D.H.R. Compared to other forms of government, democracies are better equipped to tackle these issues through free and pluralistic discourse, inclusive policies, and built-in-mechanisms for self-correction. In this context, IDEA acknowledge the growing need for international cooperation to protect and improve democracy, and to support effective and collective democratic responses to global challenges. Over the past three decades, International IDEA has become a global intergovernmental leader on democracy research and assistance. The institute has expanded from 14 founding Member States in 1995 to today's 35 Member States. International IDEA has improved electoral institutions, supported constitution-building processes, promoted political rights, and addressed the challenges to democracy posed by digitalization. As we celebrate the 30th anniversary, we reaffirms our commitment to the mission to protect and advance democracy worldwide.

150th Birthday of Thomas Mann

           A little more than one week ago, precisely on 6th of June, the German writer Thoma Mann would complete 150 year-old. Ten years ago I had already done a tribute to him, as you can read on this link https://thepeopleteacher.blogspot.com/2015/06/140th-birthday-of-thomas-mann.html. He was a very active activist for democracy in times of totalitarian regimes in Europe. In fact, he dedicated all his time and cultural production to fight the evils of the dictatorships.  This post is a summary of two articles. The first was published at https://au.news.yahoo.com/magic-mountain-sweeping-critique-totalitarian-190839041.html?guccounter=1guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAANez9UOORvejsHfhGjyhMPDVNGF3xMjY6Cu1LLr8SpLUAaXnaQ0q8BKS0fXibodoQNCArpIQ4KILCTVNvriwSbFf0txczeyACTbnUC0pzu9xvp-yLeBFuqCihP12NsJIiz-BA8KdPW2lQJxFJbFl2_-Qp5N9FSHWOTkVpnE_oOwt. The second was published at https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/255/oa_monograph/chapter/3010023

                      Last November, Nobel Prize winner Thomas Mann's Magical Mountain completed 100. One of the 20th century's towering literary achievements, it is a sweeping critique of the dangerous totalitarian political forces that shaped, and almost destroyed, Europe in Mann's lifetime. The novel also reflects Mann's own dramatic public and political evolution. Initially politically reserved, he became an ardent patriot at the outbreak of World War I, only to become disillusioned by the rise of political extremism in postwar Germany. This shift set Mann on a collision course with the Nazis and ultimately led to him fleeing Germany in 1933. There are worrying parallels bewteen 1924, when Mann's magnum opus was published, and 2024, when we're seeing a worldwide resurgence of these same impulses. There is the rise of the far-right in France, Austria and Germany. And then, American president-elect Trump's apparent admiration for authoritarian mode of governance. These forces loom ominously over our own era, threatening the democratic ideals Mann ultimately embraced. On August, 2014, German troops flooded into neutral Belgium, bringing the Britain into the war and shattering the cultural ideals and intellectual suppositions of pre-war Europe. Mann became an intransigent and inflammatory defender of the German cause, writing articles and giving speeches that made him a favorite on the volkish nationalist right. However, everything had changed by 1922. Appalled by the waves of extremist political violence coursing through Germany, Mann was forced to reappraise his beliefs. That year, in an unprecedented move, he wrote and delivered his speech, "On the German Republic. In it, he publicly embraced the principles of its Weimar Republic, distancing himself from the types of authoritarian nationalism. This development, left an indelible mark on "The Magic Mountain".  The book had been transformed from a satirical novel into a sweeping Bildungsroman, focused on moral education and psychological development. It was also an allegory of European civilisation teetering on the abyss, a "world festival of death", as Mann puts it in the novel's final sentence. Specifically, the phrase is a reference to World War I. A century after the novel first appeared, its nuanced discussions of ideological conflict, the danger of extremism and the fragility of civilisation remain, depressingly, as pertinent as ever.                                                                                                                                                                                    After he took up permanent residency in the U.S. in September of 1938, Mann, acquired a new role in the eyes of his audience. For hundreds of thousands of readers who purchased his books, flocked to his lectures, or followed his endeavors by means of the frequently breathless news coverage, Mann became an embodiment of German culture as well as a personal antagonist to the Nazi regime. Through his words and actions, he seemed to personify a cultural tradition now in danger of being irreversibly corrupted or even eradicated by fascism. Writers have served as a thorn in the side of the powerful almost since the beginning of recorded history. He became famous in America not because of his criticism of Hitler nor even because he found powerful words to attack governmental injustice, as his 19th century predecessors Heinrich Heine and Emile Zola had done. His fame instead rested on the quietly dignified aura of culture and tradition with which he surrounded himself and that seemed to emanate from every page that he wrote. The story of Mann's life seems tailor-made to support such an impression. The son of a merchant and senator from the north German town of Lubeck, he had learned from an early age what it means to assume a representative function. It was precisely this studiously cultivated air of dignity that made him a potent actor in an age of totalitarian domination. These two factors that characterize Mann's case, the battle of cultural autonomy against totalitarian dependence and the struggle between international and national sources of literary  esteem, continue to have a clear relevance into the present day. Mann in exile had been extremely active and well understood his importance in fostering international solidarity. Mann spelled out a worldview when he asserted, "The task of affirming that there remains alive a tradition of German culture outside of the sphere of dictatorship doe not belong to us. It is the task of the world to proclaim this, of that world which can't forget the sympathy and gratitude with which it time and again welcomed the questing and creative spirit." By casting Mann into exile and banning his books, the Nazis could advance the claim that German culture and tradition were entirely on their side. This process of systematic exclusion bring us to the effect that translation had on Mann's self-understanding during 1930s and 1940s. During the period from 1938 to 1945, Mann's importance as an interpreter of the current situation in Europe easily outpaced his role as the author of prestigious fiction. Over the course of these years, it was issued 5 new volumes of speeches and essays to balance 5 works of fiction. The essays and speeches sold better. The lecture transcript "The Coming Victory of Democracy," for instance, sold more copies than "Joseph in Egypt, the most acclaimed work that Mann published during his American exile.

What Are the Rights of Victims of Human Rights Violations?

                  Never in the world history a human rights defender was so harmed and bullied, but now all the world is demanding justice. Join us in this worlwide movement for justice, democracy, human rights and my  political rights. This worldwide movement has became so huge, intense and prevalent in the last five years that nobody can deny its existence. We can't let the cowardice and abuse of power prevail.  I have a YouTube channel, here is the link.   https://www.youtube.com/@lucianofietto4773/videos. Since the creation of this channel its visualization counter doesn't work, the same has been happening with the counter of this blog since its creation in 2010. This post is a summary of the article with the title above. It was published at https://seoul.ohchr.org/sites/default/f/2022/04_What%20are%20victims%20rights_formatting_FIN_ENG.pdf

                  From the beginning of the U.N. human rights system instruments have recognized that victims of human rights violations have a right to remedy and redress. Altough earlier human rights concepts focused on the need to punish perpetrators of violations, over time, the focus has shifted to the rights of victims and the obligations of State to victims. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) requires States to ensure that any person whose rights are violated has an effective remedy, even if the violations was committed by person acting in their official capacity. In addition, States must ensure that any person claiming such a remedy can have his or her claim determined by a competent court or other competent authority, and the authorities must enforce any remedies that are granted. Since the ICCPR was adopted in 1966, other more focused human rights treaties have also specifically referred to the rights of victims. In 2005, the General Assembly of the U.N. adopted the "Basic Principle and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law." States are encouraged to consider the Basic Principles as guidelines for domestic laws and policies. Since their adoption, the Basic Principle have become the main international framework for victims' rights. The rights of victims overlap to some degree with the fundamental principles of transitional justice. The relationship between the two is that transitional justice serves to ensure that the rights of victims are respected, protected, and fulfilled, among other aims. Under the Basic Principles, victims can be individual or collective. They may have suffered "physical or mental injury, emotional suffering, economic loss or substantial impairment of their fundamental rights". In addition to direct victims, their family members and dependents can also be victims, as well as persons who tried to intervene to help the victim. The Basic Principles set out that all victims of violations of international human rights and international humanitarian law have the right to: 1) Equal and effective access to justice.   2) Adequate, effective and prompt reparations for harm suffered.   3) Access to relevant information concerning violations and reparation mechanisms.  Victims have the right to effective judicial remedies by competent courts without any form of discrimination. States should disseminate relevant information about available remedies, take measures to protect victims and make it easier for them to participate safely in these process, and provide relevant assistance, among other things. Victims are entitled to "adequate, effective and prompt reparations" for violations of their rights. Reparation can be individual or collective. If the State is responsible for the violations, the State should be responsible for reparation. The Basic Principles set out the actions States should take to help ensure reparation, and establish the main forms of reparation: restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction and guarantees of non-repetition. Compensation should be paid where the violation of rights can be assessed economically. Economic damages apply for physical or mental harm, lost opportunities, such as education and social benefits, lost wages or potential future wages, moral damages, and the costs of dealing with the violation, such as lawyers, doctors, and other services. Rehabilitation means medical and psychological care, and legal and social services. Satisfaction can take many forms, including: a) measures to end ongoing violations, b) verification of facts and disclosure of the truth, c) searching for missing persons or their remains and appropriate treatment of their remains, d) an official declaration or judicial decision restoring the dignity, reputation and rights of victims, e) public apologies including acknowledge the facts and accepting responsibility, f) judicial and administrative sanctions against those who are responsible, g) tributes to victims, h) accurate information about the violations in education materials. Guarantees of non-repetition means that the State must take steps to ensure that violations stop and do not happen again. For example, the State could work to ensure effective civilian control over the military, strengthen its judiciary, change policies to protect lawyers, journalists and human rights defenders, and reform laws that allow violations to happen, among other actions.

World Press Freedom Day - 2025

                     For about two decades I have had this activism for better political education, for more democracy and development, for more respect for human rights and better justice. The freedom of speech and a press free and independent are two pillars of democracy and justice and we all must defend them. We can't tolerate censorship of any kind. But if there is systematic bullying on TV against vulnerable human rights defenders, justice must be demanded.  I have a YouTube channel, here is the link.   https://www.youtube.com/@lucianofietto4773/videos. Since the creation of this channel its visualization counter doesn't work, the same has been happening with the counter of this blog since its creation in 2010.   This post is a summary of two articles. The first was published at https://www.un.org/en/observances/press-freedom-day. The second was published at https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ATAG/2025/772836/EPRS_ATA(2025)772836_EN.pdf

     The rapid growth and use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing journalism, the media, and press freedom in big ways. While the principle of free, independent and pluralistic media remain crucial, AI's impact on information gathering, processing and dissemination is profound, presenting both innovative opportunities and serious challenges. AI can help support freedom of expression by making information easier to access, allowing more people to communicate across the world, and changing how information flows globally. At the same time, AI brings new risks. It can be used to spread false or misleading information, increase online hate speech, and support new types of censorship. Some actors use AI for mass surveillance of journalists and citizens, creating a chilling effect on freedom of expression. Big tech platforms use AI to filter and control what is seen, making them poweful gatekeepers of information. There are growing worries that AI may make global media too similar and push out smaller media outlets. AI can also help media organizations by automating tasks, making them more efficient. Generative AI tools reuse take away income from independent media and give it to tech platforms and AI companies. AI is playing a bigger role in elections, helping with fact-checking and fighting disinformation. It also gives tools to journalists and voters to support informed participation in democracy. But AI also creates risks. It can be used to make fake content, like deepfakes, which can damage trust in democratic systems. Addressing these challenges requires collaboration among goverments, media and civil society. The U.N. Global Digital Compact, says it's important to deal with problems caused by technology while still protecting people's privacy and freedom of expression. World Press Freedom Day 2025 focuses on how AI affects press freedom, the free flow of information, media independence,and the global goal of access to information and protecting freedoms. May 3rd acts as a reminder to governments of the need to respect their commitment to press freedom. It is also a day of reflection among media professionals about issues of press freedom and professional ethics.                                                                                                                                                                              Digital technologies have now taken the world by storm. Newspaper sales continue to plummet, while the number of internet and social media users continue to rise. Internet intermediaries are now the gatekeepers of freedom of expression and information, influencing critically the way we receive. Governments around the world are resorting to internet shutdowns and other measures to silence online speech. Against this backdrop, 3 May remind us that freedom to seek, disseminate and receive information from different perspective on issues of public interest is a public good and vital to building healthy and pluralistic civic space in which democratic institutions and a healthy political debate can flourish. Without free and pluralistic media acting as public watchdog, citizens can't access the information they need to make sound political choice, and accountability is severely impaired. The media also offer citizens analysis of ongoing events, serve as a public forum in which different voices can be heard and interact with, and help citizens to understand an increasingly complex world. 3 May is also a day to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in pursuit of a story, to defend media from attacks on their independence, and to assess the state of media freedom worldwide. The European Commission monitors risks to media freedom in the E.U. Member States in its annual rule of law report. Additionally, since 2014, the Media Pluralism Monitor project, has been publishing reports assessing weaknesses in the E.U. Member States media systems that could hinder media pluralism. The 2024 editions of these reports confirm a negative shift regarding the journalistic profession, owing to an increase in the number of online and offline threats to journalists combined with abusive legal threats. The European Parliament has been an outspoken advocate for freedom of information and the protection of journalists both within and outside the E.U.

Economic Outlook - A Critical Juncture Amid Policy Shifts

                         This book is divided in 3 chapters. The first is an overall analysis of the current economy of the world and the last part of this first chapter, a report about the impact of AI on energy demand. The second chapter is dedicated to the global economic implications of population aging. And the third chapter is a report about an analysis of the migration and refugees policies. Like I've shared on Facebook before, many articles and reports showing the benefits to the place that welcome refugees and migrants. And like I've said many times as a global human rights defender, to seek asylum is a human right enshrined in the U.D.H.R. (Universal Declaration of Human Rights). For about two decades I have had this activism for better political education, for more democracy and development, for more respect for human rights and better justice,  I have a YouTube channel, here is the link.   https://www.youtube.com/@lucianofietto4773/videos. Since the creation of this channel its visualization counter doesn't work, the same has been happening with the counter of this blog since its creation in 2010. Never a human rights defender was so much harmed in so many ways and for so long time. This post is a summary of the book with the title above, published in April 2025   at https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/Issues/2025/04/22/world-economic-outlook-april-2025

                         This April 2025 World Economic Outlook was put together under exceptional circumstances. The U.S. announced multiple waves of tariffs on major trading partners and critical sectors. The global economy is now characterized by a high degree of economic and financial integration. For this reason, we expect that the sharp increase in both tariffs and uncertainty will lead to a significant slowdown in global growth in the near term. These effects are magnified in the presence of modern complex global supply chains. Anticipating such disruptions we have revised down our projection for global trade growth by 1.5% this year, with a slight recovery for 2026. The global economy is a critical juncture. Signs of stabilization were emerging through much of 2024, after a prolonged and challenging period of multidecade highs, followed a gradual bumpy decline towards central bank targets. Labor markets normalized, with unemployment and vacancy rates returning to prepandemic levels. Growth hovered around 3% and global output came close to potential. However, major policy shifts are resetting the global trade system giving rise to uncertainty that is once again testing the resilience of the global economy. Migration and refugee policies have become a critical part of public policy in the context of an anemic growth outlook and growing demographic pressures. In addition to documenting rising legal migration and refugee flows and barriers, the report finds the following: 1) Beyond the better handling of large unexpected displacement shocks, international cooperation can help distribute the short-term costs of hosting refugees more evenly across countries, while alleviating the burden on individual economies. Such initiatives stand to benefit developing economies, which tend to lack fiscal space and absorptive capacity. 2) Improving integration of migrants and refugees to maximize gain for destination economies. A big share of refugees are more often absorbed into the informal economy. strengthening incentives to take up formal work can help these economies reap the benefits of these inflows. Migrants and refugees can generate economic gain that outweigh fiscal costs and even ease fiscal pressures if they are well integrated into the labor force. Refugees frequently struggle to join he labor force or find employment opportunities that fully utilize their skills. The benefits from their contributions are larger, notably in the long term.                                                   Below the GDP growth in 2024, from the highest growth to the smallest growth.  The first column is for countries in the American continent, and the other is for some countries in the rest of the world. As previously forecasted, Guyana had the highest GDP growth of the world last year. The same had happened in 2021, 2022 and 2023. Congratulations to our neighboring country.

GDP growth 2024 in PanAmerican countries                           Rest of the World

Guyana        43.6%                                                                      Ethiopia     8.1%          

Venezuela        5.3%                                                                      India        6.5%

Costa Rica         4.3%                                                               Philippines        5.7%

Paraguay         4.0%                                                                      China      5.0%                                  

Guatemala            3.7%                                                                Indonesia       5.0%

Honduras          3.6%                                                                      Spain        3.2%

Nicaragua         3.6%                                                                   Turkiye      3.2%                                      

Brazil              3.4%                                                                     Poland        2.9%

Peru              3.3%                                                                     Norway        2.1%

Uruguay          3.1%                                                                    Portugal     1.9%

Panama           2.9%                                                                    Ireland       1.2%

U.S.A.           2.8%                                                                         France     1.1%

Chile            2.6%                                                                            U.K.       1.1%

Colombia          1.7%                                                                    Italy       0.7% 

Canada           1.5%                                                                         Japan      0.1%

Mexico            1.5%                                                                       Germany      -0.2%

Bolivia             1.3%                                                                

Argentina            -1.7%                                                           

Ecuador            -2.0%                                                                     

                                                          

Crime and Violence in Latin America

                 Brazil should follow the example of the European and North America countries, where violent crimes are punished with a lot more rigor. The right to life must be more respected in Latin America. The first part of this book is dedicated to an economical analysis of Latin America with lots of infographics. If you want to read the whole book there are versions in Spanish and Portuguese on the World Bank webpage. The Latin Americans shouldn't miss the focus on development, education, peace, justice, democracy and human rights. For almost two decades I've been writing online about the importance of these issues for a better life to everyone here in our continent.  This post is a summary of the chapter two of the book with the incomplete title above, published in April of 2025 at https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/151ce3ba-0caf-4aae-ae71-d68751b7a80b/content

                 The development challenges in Latin America are increasingly compounded by the expansion of crime in the region. The regions' news outlets document not only rising homicides rates but killings involving politicians; candidates for office assassinated, altering elections; businesses that must pay extortion fees to operate; and neighborhoods, cities and rural municipalities under criminal control. This chapter argues that crime is one of the region's most pressing problems and must be at the center of any conversation about development. While it is a problem present in many countries, in Latin America, crime tends to be more violent and it also flourishes through coercion and extortion; the capture of state institutions and sometimes with rules that limit individual freedoms, including the right to move, work, and vote freely. The impediments it poses to the region's development are myriad: uncertainty about property rights reduces and distorts investment; extortion and insecurity raise business costs and reduce competitiveness; unproductive public security expenses divert resources that could go into health, education or infrastructure, improving people's lives; victims of violence experience reductions in their capacity to accumulate human capital; communities living under crme rule see their basic freedoms compromised. The channels through which crime contributes to low productivity, low growth and poverty are countless.  Crime feeds on an absence of opportunities. In the medium and long term, the best public security policy is building more functional states that can offer better education systems and labor markets that work well and can offer quality jobs. Collecting "taxes" from businesses is a widespread practice of organized crime groups in the territories under their control. Extortion affects smaller businesses more than larger ones. A paradigmatic case is El Salvador, where MS-13 and Barrio 18 were involved in extortion throughout the country for decades. Approximately 79% of businesses, including high-end restaurants and shopping malls, paid extortion fees. The total cost of extortion in El Salvador was estimated at 16% of GDP in 2014. In Ecuador, extortion cases increased by more than 65% from 2022 to 2023. Criminal activity is made possible by the ability of criminal groups to manipulate state actors at the national and subnational levels through a perverse combination of coercion and bribes, and some cases control over electoral processes through campaign financing or elimination of candidates by murder or pressure to drop out. Organized crime has become a parallel power at the local level across parts of Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Ecuador. Latin America has long been hobbled by mediocre annual average economic growth, low productivity and high numbers of people struggling to stay out of poverty. This report argues that the region will remain trapped in this poor equilibrium until it figures out how to contain the worst expressions of organized crime, including the violence it brings along. There are several channels through which organized crime trumps development: 1) Reducing and distorting private investment. 2) Diverting public resources towards unproductive uses. 3) Destroying human, physical and natural capital. 4) Weakening institutions and the quality of government. 5) Deepening inequalities. All these channels add up to significant costs, many of which are hard to quantify. The Inter-American Development Bank estimates direct human capital losses and public and private security expenses in Latin America in 2022 at 3.4% of GDP. Homicides are not the only manifestation of violence. However, the homicide rate is the most reliable comparable statistic of violence. By this measure, violence in Latin America is incomparable high. While accounting for approximately 9% of the global population, Latin America records one-third of all homicides. Moreover, the gap between the homicide rate in Latin America and the rest of the world has widened over the last 20 years. In the second decade of this century, the average homicide rate in Latin America was 8 times higher than the world's average. (23.9 versus 3.0). The Latin America average hides substantial variation across countries. The 2018-2022 average homicide rate vary from 49 homicides per 1,000 people in Jamaica and 38 in Honduras (at the top) to 5 in Argentina and 4 in Bolivia (at the bottom). Most non-LatinAmerica countries ranking among the top 50 by their criminality score have homicides rates under 10 per 100,000 people. The exceptions are Nigeria, South Africa, and South Sudan. In contrast, all Latin America countries in the same group, except Paraguay and Peru, have homicide rate exceeding 10 per 100,000 and seven have homicide rates exceeding 20 per 100,000 people. These figures suggest that organized crime is more lethal in Latin America than in most other places, prompting the question of what else in Latin America different. Latin America, by far, has the highest average levels of excess lethal violence, followed by Sub-Saharan Africa. Within Latin America countries, Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, Mexico and Guatemala are the countries with more lethal violence. In contrast, countries like Chile, Bolivia, Peru and Argentina report lower homicide rates relative to their general levels of crime. The available indicators of the effectiveness of criminal investigation and adjudication, from the World Justice Project, suggest that except for Chile, Costa Rica and Uruguay, Latin American countries rank the lowest relative to countries in other world regions. The first indicator assesses the quality of criminal justice based on the perception and experience of whether perpetrators of crime are effectively apprehended and correctly charged. The second indicator measures whether perperators of crime are effectively prosecuted and punished and whether criminal judges and other judicial officers are competent and produce speedy decisions. It provides a closer assessment of impunity, confirming that this is a significant problem in the region. High levels of impunity for serious crimes are confirmed by most measures of criminal justice performance in those Latin America countries experiencing more violence. Indeed, the availability of appropriate criminal justice performance indicators can improve accountability and public trust while providing the correct incentives for strategic effectiveness. To improve criminal justice capacity, specifically in fighting organizing crime, authorities must turn to prioritization, which entails focusing resources on investigating and eliminating those crimes that are more harmful to society, such as homicidal violence, child abuse and extortion. The lack of reliable information about organized crime and the challenges of measuring it are immense. Indeed, part of the institutional weaknesses discussed in the previous section results from the lack of data. Thus, part of the problem is the absence of systematic official survey. This is despite security being identified as one of the top concerns of public opinion in poll studies.

On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the 20th Century

                   For almost two decades I have had this actvism for better political education, for more respect for human rights, for better justice, for better democracy, for better citizenship. Join us in this worldwide movement, watch my videos on my YouTube channel, here is the link.   https://www.youtube.com/@lucianofietto4773/videos.   This post is a summary of an article that is a summary of the book with the title above. it was published at https://carlaseaquist.medium.com/books-for-our-times-on-tyranny-twenty-lessons-from-the-twentieth-century-by-timothy-snyder-dce314bf8f3f

                     The author, Timothy Snyder, leads with "Tyranny", for good reason: Alarmed at the deteriorating state of democracy, he published this book in 2017. He wants to return us to principles. Tyranny lies ahead us, if we don't save ourselves. First step in saving ourselves is understand our peril. He discusses ideas, ideas undergirding democracy and lying invisible behind our peril that, because they have become "normalized" (a term Snyder doesn't use), we don't recognize them. What he seeks to do is furnish us with new lenses and mindset, so we can see and think anew what an invaluable, but imperiled, thing we have. To do this Snyder avoids the jargon that has jammed current political "debate", using instead evocative but on-point language. For example, introducing the idea of tyranny: "The founding Fathers sought to avoid the evil that they called tyranny. They had in mind the usurpation of power by a single individual or group, or the circumvention of law by rulers for their own profit. "Evil, usurpation, tyranny", all resonate more than autocracy, a term not computing for many. Citing history, Snyder teaches history at Yale University, he writes: As the Founders knew, "Aristotle warned that inequality brought instability, while Plato believed that demagogues exploited free speech to install themselves as tyrants. Most of his historical examples come from the 20th century: Russia's communist and Hitler's manipulation of Germany's nascent democracy into a fascist killing machine. Surveying European democracies, he says, "societies can break, democracies can fall, ethics can collapse, and ordinary men can find themselves standing over deaths pits with guns in their hands. To enable understanding of how tyranny comes, Snyder presents his twenty lessons.  1) Don't obey in advance: Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given and anticipatory obedience is a political tragedy.   2) Defend institutions: it is institutions that help us to preserve decency.   3) Beware the one-party system: more so than ever, politicians with great power exploit the moment"to make political life impossible for their opponents, trying to demonstrate they must either fear democracy or weaken it.   4) Take responsibility for the face of the world: "notice the swastikas and other signs of hate. Don't look away, and don't get used to them. Remove them yourself and set an example for others to do so.   5) Remember professional ethics: this lessons bears underscoring. Professional commitment to just practice, practice thst is ethical is crucial when a political leader shows authoritarian intent: it is hard to subvert a rule-of-law state without lawyers. Snyder profiles Hitler's Germany: doctors conducting "ghastly" medical experiments in the concentration camps, businessmen exploiting camps' cheap labor, civil servants recording it all. The Nazi atrocities could not happen if lawyers had followers the norm of no executions without trial, if doctors had accepted the rule of no surgery without consent, if businessmen had accepted the prohibition of slavery. Professional codes of ethical conduct, confer power and impose the obrigation to act. Then there is no such thing as just following orders. It takes a people to make a tyranny. Ethical codes of conduct, of course, should be imposed on political leaders themselves.   6) Be wary of paramilitares: armed groups first degrade political order, and then transform it.   7) Be reflective if you must be armed: addressed to members of the military and police, Snyder urges that in response to a tyrant's orders, be ready to say no.   8) Stand out: somebody has to. It is easy to follow along. It can feel strange to do or say something different. But without that unease, there is no freedom.   9) Be kind to language: Think up your own way of speaking, even if only to convey that thing you think everyone is saying.   10) Believe in truth: a lesson taking on supreme importance, "to abandon facts is to abandon freedom. If nothing is true, then no one can criticize power, because there is no basis upon which to do so. Per Victor Klemperer, literary scholar and holocaust survivor, "truth dies in four modes: first, the hostility to verifiable reality. Second, "shamanistic incantation". Third, "magical thinking, or the open embrace of contradiction, for example, a politician promises of cuttng taxes, eliminating national debt and at the same time increasing spending. Accepting untruth of this kind requires a blatant abandonment of reason. And finally, "misplaced faith" in self-deifying claims. In suma: "post-truth is pre-fascism.   11) Investigate: An investigating mind prevents a "generic cynicism". Support investigative reporting and take responsibility for what you communicate to others.   12) Understand whom you should and shouldn't trust.   13) Make new friends and march with them.   14) Establish a private life: Tyrants seek the hook on which to hang you, your legal troubles, your emails. Try not to have hooks.   15) Contribute to good causes: to create an empowered civil society, do good and help others do good.   16) Learn from peers in other countries.  17) Listen for dangerous words: this lesson is key. Be alert to the use of the words extremism and terrorism. Be alive to the fatal notion of emergency and exception. Dissidents, whether they were resisting fascism or communism, were called extremists. In this way the notion of extremism comes to mean virtually everything except what is, in fact, extreme: tyranny.  18) Be calm when the unthinkable comes: "modern tyranny is terror management. The sudden disaster that requires the end of checks and balances, the dissolution of opposition parties, the suspension of freedom of expression, the right to a fair trial, and so on.   19) Be a patriot: a nationalist isn't at all the same as a patriot. A nationalist encourages us to be our worst, and then tell us that we are the best, while a patriot wants the nation to live up to its ideals.   20) Be as courageous as you can, and try to cultivate in ourselves and as voters, a sense of maturity, responsibility and history. Defending democracy is subtle business and this subtle book shows how.

International Day for the Right to the Truth Concerning Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims - 2025

               Last Monday, 24th of March, all over the world this is the day to remember the victims of human rights violations and their fight for truth, justice and dignity. So, this post is a tribute to all victims that suffered injustice and died without have it, to all human rights defenders who help to bring justice and truth for anyone looking for them, and to all victims that are fighting now for truth, justice and dignity. We all should participate in this fight because it is very important to fight against injustice. Without justice the violations can spread because the perpetrators feel they can do more and more and then we'd are all surviving in this nightmare called dystopia that would become a evil system difficult to combat. Therefore, help fighting human rights violations and injustice, when many abuses have systematically been done for so long time, the justice is even more important.  Do not think you are unreachable. We all must record any violation of human rights happening now. The systematic violations, the impunity, the daily bullying on TV, the indirectly threats about the creation of lies exist to do the victims give up to fight for justice, democracy and political rights. Besides, the violations, the systematic abuses, the daily humiliation and decades of impunity can have a dehumanizing effect in the population, do not let this happens, the solidarity and empathy are the essence of all human being.     This post is a summary of three articles. The first was published at https://unipd-centrodirittiumani.it/en/news/march-24-united-nations-international-day-for-the-right-to-the-truth. The second was published at https://www.oas.org/en/IACHR/jsForm/?File=/en/iachr/media_center/PReleases/2025/058.asp&utm_term=class-dc. The third was published at https://www.coe.int/en/web/commissioner/-/victims-of-human-rights-violations-deserve-more

                 The Purpose of this day is to honor the memory of victims of systematic human rights violations and promote the importance of the right to truth and justice. To pay tribute to those who have dedicated and lost their lives in the struggle to promote and protect human rights for all. To recognize, in particular, the important work of Monsignor Oscar Romero of El Salvador, who was assassinated on March 24th, 1980, after denouncing violations of human rights of the population and defending the lives, promoting human dignity and oppose to violence. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres emphasizes that truth is a source of strength and healing. He recalled the importance of truth as a powerful light. This light exposes violations that perpetrators would prefer to keep hidden, that illuminates a path towards peace, justice, and remediations for victims, and compels countries to uphold their obligations under international law.                                                                                                                                                                                     On the International Day for the Right to the Truth Concerning Human Rights Violations, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Promotion of Justice and Reparation are calling on States across the Americas to intensify their efforts to ensure accountability and take more decisive action on memory, truth and justice. The IACHR and the U.N. Special Rapporteur have observed positive steps in different countries in the Americas towards implementing transitional justice policies in order to secure the rights of victims of human rights violations. However, they warn that these advances are often not sustained and that regressive actions weaken or delay them. Experts have expressed concern over the failure of many States to adopt a holistic approach that coordinates efforts between different state authorities to comprehensively address human rights violations. They note that victims and their families are often left to struggle alone in their pursuit of justice and reparation, often enduring the long-term effects of arbitrary actions on their lives and communities while receiving inadequate responses from public authorities. Both the IACHR and the U.N. Special Rapporteur have repeatedly highlighted the obstacle countries must overcome in the fight against impunity and to achieve reparation for victims while preserving historical memory. To move forward, it is imperative that States implement policies to support truth, justice and reparation, taking a holistic approach that is grounded in the universal, and indivisible nature of human rights. The IACHR and the U.N. Special Rapporteur are calling on States to set up efforts to uphold their international obligations regarding justice. Failure to address injustices denies victims their dignity and undermines the construction of a more just and rights-respecting society, both today and for the future.                                                                                                                                                                                    The right to reparations is a basic human right. It is enshrined in numerous international human rights instruments. Victims of human rights abuses have a right to redress for the suffering and harm caused to them. Reparation is the last step in the achievement of human rights protection. Fistly, violations of human rights should be prevented. Secondly, if a violation does take place, it must be investigated (promptly, thoroughly and impartially). Thirdly, victims should have access to justice. And finally, victims have the right to receive adequate reparation. The question of reparation for victims falls to receive the attention it deserves. Governments have ducked the issue and left to the former prisoners themselves to fight for their rights in complicated court procedures. What does reparation entail? Financial compensation is the most widespread form of reparation. Some damage can be easily estimated in monetary terms, for example loss of earnings, costs of assistance, while other forms can't. I am thinking about mental or moral damages. By taking a victim-oriented approach, we affirm our human solidarity with victims of violations of human rights. Of course, reparations can never fully undo the damage that has been done. Violations of human rights are irreparable. But this must not impede us from fighting to achieve fair redress for victims. The "U.N. Basic Principle on the Right to Reparation" are a good starting point for implementing the various aspects of reparation, a key element to full human rights protection.

40th Anniversary of Redemocratization in Brazil

                    One week ago, precisely on 15th March the return of democracy in Brazil completed 40 years. We all must always defend democracy, human rights, potilical inclusion and justice. We need not only to defend democracy, but search for the improvement of democracy. We must always remember that there is not democracy without human rights and there is not human rights without democracy. For more than two decades I have had this actvism for better political education, for more respect for human rights, for better justice,  I have a YouTube channel here is the link.   https://www.youtube.com/@lucianofietto4773/videos.            This post is a summary of two articles. The first was published at https://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/en/politica/noticia/2025-03/brazil-celebrates-40-years-end-military-dictatorship. The second was published athttps://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/inline_images/Brazil.pdf

                       Brazil's current democratic regime has celebrated its 40th anniversary. It is the longest uninterrupted democratic period in the country's history since the proclamation of the republic in 1889. A lengthy process resulted in the end of 21 years of dictatorship (1964-1985), with the redemocratization being marked by the inauguration of José Sarney as president on March 15, 1985. Until then, Sarney had been the vice-president of president-elect Tancredo Neves. The election had taken place two months earlier by indirect vote, through the Congress. However, Neves's health deteriorated and he had to be hospitalized the day before the swearing-in ceremony. Sarney then took over on an interim basis. "Neves didn't want to be operated on without seeing that the democratic transition would take place, because he knew we could have a political setback if we fell into disagreement," Sarney noted during an event in Brasilia celebrating the date. Noting that Brazil was facing major uncertainties about the nation's political future and the fear that the military would refuse to hand power back to society, Sarney said that Tancredo only agreed to undergo intestinal surgery when he was assured that Sarney would be sworn in, that the Federal Constitution would be observed, and that "the democratic transition would be guided by the law." Tancredo Neves died on April 21, after 39 days in hospital, aged 75. Following his passing, Congress installed Sarney as president. "Those were years of struggle. Setbacks were not only possible but likely, but we managed to overcome them," Sarney declared. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva used his social media to celebrate the date. On X, he wrote that, beyond the significance of the inauguration of a new president, March 15, 1985, went down in history as "the day Brazil reunited with democracy." He added, "Sarney governed under the constant threat of those who longed for a returned of the dictatorship, but with extraordinary skill and political commitment he bought the conditions for us to write the Citizen Constitution of 1988 and change Brazil's history." In a video message, the head of Brazil's Supreme Court Carmen Lúcia said that democracy is under permanent construction.                                                                                                                                                                             Brazil was ruled by the military since 1964. Repression peaked in the early 1970s. Impatience with the military regime accelerated after the economy went into crisis in 1982. By 1985, though an attempt to install its preferred candidate in the presidency, the opposition was able to overcome the system of indirect election and prevail in the election. A sanctioned opposition had been permitted for most of the period of military rule, but the military regime proved increasingly incapable of holding democratic demands in check. Direct elections of governorsand federal and local representatives were reintroduced in 1982. While not formally unified, opposition groups frequently cooperated in order to organize mass demonstrations, such as of 1983 and 1984, calling for direct presidential elections. That effort failed, but the military was unable to prevent opposition candidate Tancredo Neves from triumphing in indirect elections in 1985. Direct elections to the presidency returned in 1989, and different parties have come to power since that time.

How To Stop Fascism: History, Ideology and Resistance

               We all must defend democracy and political rights for all. In Brazil we all must demand that voting machines print the voter's choice and also demand our political rights respected, freedom of speech, right to the monetization of social media, right to privacy and right to reparation whenever any right is violated. We shouldn't be afraid to fight for our rights because all the world is with us supporting this movement to greater democracy, human and political rights, governmental transparency and justice. We all must fight any kind of authoritarian political system that don't respect democracy and voter's choice. The Brazilian institutions including from the government must do more to reinforce human rights. The cowardice and injustice can't carry on. The good people of the world is demanding a fairer and inclusive  Brazil and their demand must be heard for all.  If you want to know my channel and see a small sample of the huge worldwide movement for justice, democracy and political rights, watch my videos, here is the link   https://www.youtube.com/@lucianofietto4773/videos.              This post is a summary of two book reviews of the book with the title above. The first was published at https://www.ebb-magazine.com/reviews/how-to-stop-fascism. The second was published at https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2021/12/08/book-review-how-to-stop-fascism-history-ideology-resistance-by-paul-mason/

                Paul Mason, the self-declared 'Gramscian social-democrat', has written a book on anti-fascism. In "How To Stop Fascism:History, Ideology and Resistance," Mason construct a familiar narrative in which the left paved the way to fascism by alienating reformists and the liberal centre. His defence of the centrist politics rests on the assumption that liberalism is self-moderating. A notion belied by the liberal establishment's response to the social and economic crises of the 1920s and 1930s. Mason's claim to provide a new, materislist theory of fascism is undermined by his tacit promotion of a culturalist framing of civilisational conflict and romanticised portrayal of the 'rationalist, liberal principles of the Enlightenment'. This reflects Mason's increasing preocupation to defend the liberal order against what he calls the 'authoritarian, anti-modernist dictatorships'. At a time when neoliberal states are intensifying their powers to suppress popular protest and stifle intellectual dissent, "How To Stop Fascism", calls for a revival of the 'militant democracy' adopted by anti-communist governments in the Cold War context. In the First World War, the reformists parties of the Second International allowed themselves to be swept up in the patriotic fervour, mobilising labour movement support for a catastrophic inter-imperialist conflict. Over the following decade, the ability to advance a socialist counter to the rise of reaction was utterly hamstrung by its 'sense of constitutionalist responsibility and traditional prejudices about the undisciplined instincts of the non-Social Democratic masses'. As Mason acknowledges, the reformists were blindly committed to legality, at a time when politics was becoming radical, populist and moving to the streets.' Mason is correct to say of liberal democracy that not only does it allow workers and oppressed people the space to organize in but we, the people, actually helped created it, through two centuries of struggle. The rise of fascism demonstrated how quickly the 'men of power, and privilege' are willing to dispense with political liberties if they see this as necessary to preserving their order. Deploying the Gramscian language of hegemony, Mason argues that a modern front needs to occupy some kind of centre ground on social issues: 'if there is a social force that represent progress, it needs to builds alliance with other social forces and to avoid needless cultural friction with them. While in his book Mason distances himself from the Cold War theory of totalitarianism, which served the political purpose of mobilising anti-fascists rhetoric against various threats to post-war capitalism, he has clearly internalised its inner logic. After the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict, Mason asserted that "the whole survival of democracy and the post-1945 charter system depends on defeating, morally, politically and if necessary militarily, states which have become aggressive, totalitarian and ethnonationalist.' "How To Stop Fascism" concludes by calling for a revival of the 'militant democracy' advocated by liberals in the post-war context. Mason is an instructive case of what happens when the watering down of principle for the sake of pragmatism is guiding politics.                                                                                                               A thought-provoking, uneasy and striking statement of, 'Fascism is back' opens "How To Stop Fascism: History, Ideology, Resistance". Paul Mason, a British TV commentator and award-winning journalist, sets out to warn the world of the fascist danger and to provide a practical guide on how to fight back. At a time of democratic backsliding around the globe, Mason's book arrives at a timely moment to warn people, of what might slip away from their hands. The book talks about a new kind of fascism, but one which is no less harmful or threatening. On the contrary, what we witness today is as dangerous as fascism in the past, if not more so. While all of their actions aim to undermine the rule of law and intimidate opponents in general. And online spaces, such as Telegram and Signal, play into the hands of fascists, providing them with easy and anonymised platforms to spread hatred, fantasies of violence and conspiracy theories. Mason provides a detailed historical account of fascism in an attenpt to explain the process by which fascism emerged in Europe during the interwar period and to draw similarities with today. They took advantage of the economic crisis of the Great Depression which caused high inflation and mass unemployment, as well as the inability of liberal explanations or interventions of the time to address the needs of people. Drawing on lessons from history, Mason's main solution to fascism is 'to win the battle of ideas, and well in advance of its electoral breakthrough'. This solution requires two main approaches. First, fascism should be understood as an ideological war, not just based on conspitacy theories but also in intolerance and violence. To that end, Mason defines fascism as 'the fear of freedom triggered by a glimpse of freedom. As such, a fascist mindset fears that a 'group that is supposed to be subordinate to them might be on the verge of achieving freedom and equality'. We already observe that populists and authoritarians put significant efforts into preventing other people from achieving greater freedom and impeding them any gained rights. Second, the struggle against fascism requires a greater alliance. Parties and people should put aside their differences and unite to defend democracy. Furthermore, Mason states that this goal could achieved only by involving 'struggles both from below and coercive action by the state'. The book offers suggestive evidence not only to explain the process by which fascism emerged in the 1930s, but also to provide guidance for both activists and political elites around the world to stop fascism today. The book is also relatable to many other nascent topics in political science, including populism, new authoritarianism and political polarisation.

140th Birthday of Sinclair Lewis

                              Almost one month ago, precisely on 7th of February, the American writer Sinclair Lewis would complete 140 years-old. So this post is a tribute to him. He wrote against totalitarianism and hypocrisy and about the importance of democracy, freedom of speech and free media, political inclusion and free elections.  This post is a summary of two articles. The first was published at https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sinclair-Lewis. The second was published at https://repositorio.ual.es/bitstream/handle/10835/13465/MORILLAS%20HURTADO%2C%20JOSE%20CARLOS.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

                                 Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951) was an American novelist and social critic who punctured American complacency with his broadly drawn, widely popular satirical novels. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1930, the first given to an American. Lewis Graduated from Yale University in 1907 and was for a time a reporter and also worked as an editor for several publishers. His first novel, "Our Mr. Wrenn" (1914), attracted favourable criticism. At the same time he was writing with success for popular magazines such as Cosmopolitan. "Main Street" (1920) is seen through the eyes of Carol Kennicott, an Eastern girl married to a Midwestern doctor who settles in Minnesota. The power of the book derives from Lewis' careful rendering of local speech, customs and social amenities. The satire is double-edged. In the years following its publication, Main Street became not just a novel but the textbook on American provincialism. In 1922, Lewis published "Babbit", a study of the complacent American whose individuality has been sucked out of him Rotary clubs, business ideals and general conformity. The name Babbit passed into general usage to represent the optimistic, self-congratulatory, middle-aged businessman whose horizons were bounded by his village limits. He followed this success with "Arrowsmith" (1925), a satiric study of the medical profession, with emphasis on the frustation of fine scientific ideals. His next important book, "Elmer Gantry" (1927), was an attack on the ignorant, gross and predatory leaders who had crept into the Protestant church. "It Can't Happen Here" (1935) dramatized the possibilities of a Fascist takeover of the U.S. In 1930, as a recognition to his remarkable back catalogue, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, "for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humour, new type of character". He was the first American writer to receive such a prestigious acknoledgement. "It Can't Happen Here", was published in 1935 and in this novel he describes an American society where fascism slowly takes control. This novel comes as a response by Sinclair Lewis to the growing wave of totalitarian regimes that were arising in the decade of the Great Depression, showing his inner fear of this political movement planting its seed in the minds of the American people. This opportunitty that people had to identify with the story on a practical level, made it easier for this specific audience to see the relation between the demagogues in the story and their counterparts in real life. "It Can't Happen Here", would be his last piece of work to be widely acclaimed by the public. His following productions, although they made him money, were not considered to demonstrate the high quality that was present in previous publications. Although Sinclair Lewis was part of a democratic society, he still saw the cracks in the system that could potentially affect in a negative way. As he was concerned like the development of fascism in such an advanced and highly educated nation as Germany. The totalitarian approaches to politics also come with the removal of freedom of speech in the media. This topic is represented in a very personal manner in "It Can't Happen Here", since the main character, Doremus Jessup who is a journalist, suffers from this issue at first hand. After witnessing his country fall apart and drift away from the American values that it once had, we can see how Doremus lost the very thing that still held meaningful value to him. Sinclair Lewis made this character to be involved in journalism as a way to bring awareness to how serious the removal of liberty in the media truly is, and to showcase the evolution that this activity experiences in a fascist regime. In this novel, we can see how Windrip's despises the notion of the economic systems that were implemented around the world at the time, and considers them as enemies. Buzz Windrip paints them as the reason for the American debacle, therefore the country should work against them. He also conveys the idea that a brief authoritarian government would be ideal for the quick recovery of the situation in the country. In this depiction of a fascist American state, Doremus Jessup serves as a representation of the willingness of people to not lose their authenticity and to fight against a deeply rotten system where the individual freedom that America was built on no longer exists. With this novel, Sinclair is demonstrating how easily it could be to demolish the democratic basis of a society, and also how the economic difficulties can radicalize the way in which people think. In "It Can't Happen Here", we can recognize the role that propaganda plays in the development and survival of a totalitarian regime. In "It Can't Happen Here", we are witnesses to the radicalization of the political approach in a dystopian U.S. I want to bring awareness about his aggressive manner of conducting politics during his term, and how people should be able to identify these unoriginal concepts which he based his message on. We have the power to choose who represents us in government, this is why we should use our right wisely in order not to elect people lisleading discourses are ultimately harmful towards society.